New Paternity Leave provisions
New legislation applicable to parents of babies expected on or after the 3rd April 2011 came into force on 6th April 2010. This change will now mean that eligible fathers are able to take up to 26 weeks of the mother’s maternity leave.
“Under the new legislation, eligible fathers will be able take additional leave if the mother returns to work before they have exhausted their full year’s entitlement to maternity leave. Essentially a father will receive the pay that the mother would have received had she still been taking maternity leave”.
Under the new paternity leave provisions, fathers can take up to 6 months of the mother’s maternity leave but only after the mother has had at least 20 weeks of maternity leave. As such, if the mother returns at the earliest opportunity after 20 weeks, fathers can receive pay for up to the first 19 weeks of additional paternity leave followed by a further period of unpaid leave.
Brendan explained “It’s designed to allow parents a greater flexibility in managing their childcare responsibilities. Prior to the changes fathers are only allowed up to 2 weeks paternity leave compared to mothers who can take up to a year in maternity leave. These arrangements presuppose that it is the mothers who have primary childcare responsibility, yet changing times suggest this is no longer an appropriate assumption to make”.
Whilst it is good news for employees, Brendan appreciates the difficulties that these changes may cause employers, and he explained that “there are some practical details which urgently need to be considered by employers to ensure the process is not mistreated by employees attempting to play the system. Whilst the mother will have to sign a declaration to confirm that they are returning to work and that no-one else has used additional paternity leave, these provisions may not fully eliminate the scope for manipulation so I’d encourage all employers to think now about how they will manage this process to protect their business interests”.
Whilst the legislation was passed on the 6th April 2010, the provisions do not come into effect in April 2011. If you are an existing client of mhl and want to learn more about the changes, please contact the support line today on 08453 100 999 quoting your PCN number. If you are not yet a client of mhl, but want to learn more about the services that we provide, including training courses on family-oriented rights, please contact Katy Vaughan today on 08453 100 600.
